Kota Kinabalu Journal; With Houses on Stilts and Hopes in Another Land

By BARBARA CROSSETTE, Special to the New York Times

Published: October 1, 1987

KOTA KINABALU, Malaysia, Sept. 30—
Tensions over the presence of thousands of Filipinos living illegally in the state of Sabah have intensified recently as local residents anxiously watch events in the Philippines and express fear of a new influx.

Sabah, separated by only a few miles of sea from the Philippines, has begun a census of the Filipinos, some of whom are accused of involvement in criminal activity here and gun-running to rebels fighting the Government in Manila.

The presence of many Filipinos living as squatters in Sabah has been a heated political issue for several years. Most authorities estimate that there are several hundred thousand in this vast but largely undeveloped state of 1.2 million. There are repeated calls for their deportation.

Resolution of the issue is complicated by an old Philippine claim to Sabah, which has never been formally renounced. Concern to Aquino

The Filipino settlements here and along Sabah's east coast - housing refugees recognized by the United Nations as well as illegal migrants -are also a concern to the Government of President Corazon C. Aquino.

The authorities in Manila say that guns and ammunition regularly pass through Sabah or its islands to both Moslem and Communist rebels.

Most of the Filipinos living here illegally are Moslems. They fled here in the 1960's and 70's from the Sulu archipelago and Mindanao to escape a secessionist war.

Their numbers have continued to grow as Malaysia's standard of living rises. Many fish, others sell crafts in Kota Kinabalu's harbor markets. Refers to Settlements

In announcing the census Sept. 4, Sabah's Chief Minister, Joseph Pairin Kitingan, did not name the Filipinos or any other nationality. Numerous Indonesians are also in Sabah illegally. But he cited known Filipino areas.

Mr. Pairin added that a pilot survey had been made on Gaya Island, within sight of Kota Kinabalu, where thousands of Filipinos live in houses built over water on stilts.

He said over the next three months, all such settlements would be visited by census takers from the Government-financed Institute for Development Studies.

The police, worrried about rising crime among illegal immigrants, are making their own survey.

Crucial to Sabah's campaign to control illegal immigration will be the response of the Federal Government in Kuala Lumpur, under Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammed. The Malaysian Government, which is responsible for Sabah's defense, is dominated by law by Moslem Malays. Islam is the official national religion. Most of Sabah's people - ethnic Kadazans native to this island of Borneo and Chinese Sabahans - are not Moslems, but Christians, Buddhists, Taoists or animists.

Mr. Pairin, a Kadazan and a Roman Catholic married to an ethnic Chinese, is the only Christian head of a state government in the nation. He has been the target of repeated protests from Sabah's minority Malay Moslems.

In early 1986, Moslem mobs, headquartered in a Kota Kinabalu mosque took to the streets in violent demonstrations and bombing attacks intended to bring down Mr. Pairin and replace him with Mustapha Harun, a Malay former head of Government who a year earlier had tried to sieze power illegally after state elections brought Mr. Pairin to office.

During the 1986 riots, Filipino migrants told reporters they were paid to join Moslem demonstrations. Some thought they were in a holy war.

In dealing with demonstrations last year, Mr. Pairin, a lawyer and clan chief, was forced to restrain ethnic Kadazans, descendants of fierce headhunters, from counterattacking, and thus provoking intervention.

Mr. Pairin, whose state retained the right of deportation when it entered the Malaysian federation in 1963, promised a census of Filipinos and other illegal aliens.

In new elections shortly after the 1986 riots, Mr. Pairin's Kadazan-based United Sabah Party won a larger majority. Prime Minister Mahathir subsequently admitted the party into his governing coalition, the National Front.

At national level, the Mahathir Government and the Aquino Administration have said repeatedly that they intend to settle Manila's now-anomalous claim to Sabah. The claim to sovereignty goes back to 1878, when a Sultan of Sulu leased the territory, then known as North Borneo, to a British trading company.

Sabah eventually became a British colony - Kota Kinabalu was known as Jesselton - before the territory was turned over by London to a newly created Malaysian federation.

In August of this year, Vice President Salvador H. Laurel, who was then also Foreign Minister of the Philippines, visited Kuala Lumpur and discussed the Sabah claim with Prime Minister Mahathir. There was no resolution. Both sides have said if the claim could be settled, it might be possible to repatriate thousands of Filipinos.

Photo of Filipino vendors arriving by boat in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, from nearby islands to sell fish and vegetables (NYT/Barbara Crossette); Map shows location of Sabah, which is separated by only a few miles from Philippine territory (NYT)